Thermo-Sensitive Payment Card

ABSTRACT

Technology is described for providing and using a thermo-sensitive payment card. An example payment card comprises a card substrate and a personalization layer overlaying the card substrate. The personalization layer includes a first region and a second region surrounding the first region. The first region includes an account number associated with an account of a user, and the account of the user is maintained by a payment service system that issues the payment card. At least one of the first region or the second region comprises a thermochromic ink such that application of heat to the first region or the second region having the thermochromic ink causes a change in color of the personalization layer so as to reveal the account number.

PRIORITY

This application is a continuation of, and claims priority to, U.S.patent application Ser. No. 17/367,041, filed on Jul. 2, 2021, and isfully incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

People are becoming increasingly dependent on payment cards (e.g.,credit cards, debit cards) to make purchases and other transactions. Agood payment card is convenient and secure. Basic security features of apayment card include a unique account number, signature panel,expiration date, magnetic stripe, security code, etc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The advantages and features of the present technology will becomeapparent by reference to specific implementations illustrated in theappended drawings. A person of ordinary skill in the art will understandthat these drawings only show some examples of the present technologyand would not limit the scope of the present technology to theseexamples. Furthermore, the skilled artisan will appreciate theprinciples of the present technology as described and explained withadditional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a payment service network according to one example asdescribed herein;

FIG. 2 illustrates a mobile device and payment application according toone example as described herein;

FIG. 3A is a graphic representation of a thermo-sensitive payment cardat room temperature, in accordance with certain examples;

FIGS. 3B-3E are graphic representations of a payment card uponapplication of heat, in accordance with certain examples;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a payment card, in accordance withcertain examples;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method of using a payment card, in accordancewith certain examples;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of front and back sides of a payment card,in accordance with certain examples;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the payment card of FIG. 6 placed in apackaging container, in accordance with certain examples;

FIG. 8A includes a series of images illustrating a packing assembly fora payment card, in accordance with certain examples;

FIG. 8B includes a series of images illustrating the packing assembly ofFIG. 8A and a mailer, in accordance with certain examples;

FIG. 9A includes top, bottom, front, section, and side views of aholding tray for a payment card, in accordance with certain examples;

FIG. 9B includes an image of a packing box for a payment card, inaccordance with certain examples.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various examples of the present technology are discussed in detailbelow. While specific implementations are discussed, it should beunderstood that this is done for illustration purposes only. A personskilled in the relevant art will recognize that other components andconfigurations may be used without parting from the spirit and scope ofthe present technology.

Basic security features of a payment card can include a unique accountnumber, signature panel, expiration date, magnetic stripe, securitycode, etc. Some payment cards also include a user photo or use a virtualcard number or a temporary purchase number as additional securityfeatures. Despite all these security features, however, use of a paymentcard is still not entirely secure, with exposure of the account numberprinted on the payment card being one of the greatest securityvulnerabilities.

There is a need for improved methods for providing and using a paymentcard. In one example, a payment card comprises a card substrate and apersonalization layer overlaying the card substrate. The personalizationlayer comprises at least a first region and a second region. The firstregion includes an account number associated with an account of a user,and the account of the user is maintained by a payment service systemthat issues the payment card. At least one of the first region or thesecond region includes a thermochromic ink. The thermochromic ink is anink that changes color when a temperature increases or decreases. Whenheat is applied to the first region or the second region of the paymentcard having the thermochromic ink (e.g., when the user touches the firstor second region), a color of the thermochromic ink in the first and/orsecond region may change. As a result, the account number can berevealed. In some examples, the first region and the second region aresubstantially identical in color at room temperature such that theaccount number included in the first region is invisible at roomtemperature.

Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, the payment cardincludes a heating element coupled to a near field communication (NFC)chip embedded in the payment card. The heating element can cause atemperature of the payment card to change in response to a signalreceived from the NFC chip, and the NFC chip can send the signal inresponse to an interaction of the user with a mobile applicationexecuting on a device of the user. Thus, the temperature and the colorof the payment card can be controlled by a user interaction on thedevice of the user (e.g., a mobile phone) and/or through a physicaltouching of the payment card by the user.

Further, in some examples, a temperature reading of the payment card canbe determined (e.g., based on the color of the payment card) and thenused to identify a location of the payment card. The location of thepayment card during a transaction helps validate the transaction, forexample, by confirming that the color of the card is consistent with thetemperature in an expected location of the card. Also, biometricinformation of the user using the payment card can be obtained tocontrol the temperature adjustment of the payment card by the heatingelement and to further control whether to reveal or conceal informationembedded on the card (e.g., the account number of the payment card), orinformation shown with a graphical display area of the payment card.

Advantageously, the technology described herein solves an informationexposure problem of payment cards. Currently, an account number of apayment card can be easily exposed to strangers, either by unintentionalexposure (e.g., the account number is accidentally captured by a photoshared in social networks) or by intentional interception (e.g., thenumber is remembered and stolen by a person seeing the card). Thepresent technology embeds a security feature where the account number isobfuscated at or around room temperature and is revealed only when thetemperature is changed, for example, when a user touches the card or thecard is heated with the heating element. This can prevent the accountnumber or other card information from being exposed to people who have aview of the card.

Further, the present technology embeds additional layers of securityfeatures, such as preventing fraudulent transactions based on locationdetection using the temperature and color of the payment card,preventing information exposure of the payment card from physical touchof unauthorized users, etc. In general, using the thermo-sensitivepayment card in a payment service platform as described herein reducesnetwork congestion (e.g., by reducing the degree of fraudulenttransactions) and improves privacy, security, and accuracy associatedwith handling and using the payment card.

The following description provides specific details for a thoroughunderstanding and an enabling description of these implementations. Oneskilled in the art will understand, however, that the disclosed systemand methods may be practiced without many of these details.Additionally, some well-known structures or functions may not be shownor described in detail, so as to avoid unnecessarily obscuring therelevant description of the various implementations. The terminologyused in the description presented below is intended to be interpreted inits broadest reasonable manner, even though it is being used inconjunction with a detailed description of certain specificimplementations of the disclosed system and methods. Some frequentlyused terms are now described.

The phrases “in some examples,” “according to various examples,” “in theexamples shown,” “in one example,” “in other examples,” “variousexamples,” “some examples,” and the like generally mean the particularfeature, structure, or characteristic following the phrase is includedin at least one example of the present invention, and may be included inmore than one example of the present invention. In addition, suchphrases do not necessarily refer to the same examples or to differentexamples.

If the specification states a component or feature “may,” “can,”“could,” or “might” be included or have a characteristic, thatparticular component or feature is not required to be included or havethe characteristic.

The term “module” refers broadly to software stored on non-transitorystorage medium (e.g., volatile or non-volatile memory for a computingdevice), hardware, or firmware (or any combination thereof) modules.Modules are typically functional such that they that may generate usefuldata or other output using specified input(s). A module may or may notbe self-contained. An application program (also called an “application”)may include one or more modules, or a module may include one or moreapplication programs.

In various examples, “room temperature” can be about 20° C. (68° F.),can range from about 20° C. to about 22° C. (72° F.), can range fromabout 20° C. to about 25° C. (77° F.), or can range from about 15° C.(59° F.) to about 30° C. (86° F.).

In various examples, “substantially identical in color,” “substantiallysimilar colors,” and similar phrases can refer to a color difference(e.g., between two adjacent colors) that is visibly indistinguishable ornot perceptible by the human eye (e.g., Delta E<1), only perceptibleunder close scrutiny (e.g., 1≤Delta E≤2), slightly perceptible (e.g.,2≤Delta E≤10), or perceptibly different but still appear similar (e.g.,11≤Delta E≤49), where “Delta E” is a value representing a “distance”between two colors (e.g., in L*a*b* color space).

The preceding summary is provided for the purposes of summarizing someexamples to provide a basic understanding of aspects of the subjectmatter described herein. Accordingly, the above-described features aremerely examples and should not be construed as limiting in any way.Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter describedherein will become apparent from the following description of Figuresand Claims.

FIG. 1 illustrates a payment service network 100 in accordance with oneexample embodiment. According to one example, payment service network100 includes merchant 102 that conducts transactions with customer 104(or user 104) for items 106 (e.g., goods or services) offered by themerchant 102. The payment service network 100 includes a payment servicesystem 108 (also referred to as “payment service” or “PSS”) coupled to amerchant point of sale (POS) device 105 and customer device 103 via anetwork 110, to authorize payment instruments of customer 104. Customer104 may engage in transactions with merchant 102 to obtain items 106.Customer 104 may provide, as shown at 112, payment instruments tomerchant 102 along with requests for items 106 offered by merchant 102.

In various examples, the payment service system 108 can be or include anonline platform for processing payments 126 as described herein. Thepayment service system 108 or online platform can utilize or include oneor more server computers, which can be referred to herein as platformservers or payment servers.

Merchant 102 may utilize POS device 105 for accepting payment fromcustomer 104. POS device 105 may be any mobile or non-mobile device thatincludes instances of a POS application that executes on the POS device105. The instances of the POS application may be or include adownloadable application provided by the payment service system 108, orembedded software running on an all-in-one POS device provided by thepayment service system 108. POS device 105 may further include awireless communication module with wireless communication capabilities(e.g., NFC, Bluetooth, cellular data, etc.), allowing wirelesscommunication between POS device 105 and other devices with wirelesscommunication capabilities. For example, POS device 105 may have anNFC-enabled chip that communicates with other NFC-enabled devices. ThePOS application may be provided by the payment service 108 and providePOS functionality to POS device 105 to enable merchant 102 (e.g., abusiness or owners, employees, or agents of the business) to acceptpayments from customer 104. In some types of businesses, POS device 105may correspond to a store, restaurant, website, or other place ofbusiness of the merchant, and thus, may be a fixed location thattypically does not change on a day-to-day basis, or may correspond to anInternet commerce site. In other types of businesses, however, thelocation of POS device 105 may change from time to time, such when themerchant operates a food truck, is a street vendor, is a cab driver,etc., or has an otherwise mobile business, e.g., in the case of amerchant who sells goods or services at buyers' homes, places ofbusiness, and so forth.

As used herein, a merchant may include any business engaged in theoffering of goods or services for acquisition by customers. Actionsattributed to a merchant may include actions performed by owners,employees, website servers, or other agents of the merchant, and thus nodistinction is made herein unless specifically discussed. In addition,as used herein, the customer 104 may include any entity that acquiresgoods or services from a merchant, such as by purchasing, renting,leasing, borrowing, licensing, or the like. Hereinafter, goods and/orservices offered by merchants may be referred to as items, e.g., item106. Thus, a merchant and a customer may interact with each other toconduct a transaction in which the customer acquires item 106 frommerchant 102, and in return, customer 104 provides payment 112 tomerchant 102.

As used herein, a transaction may include a financial transactionconducted between customer 104 and merchant 102. For example, whenpaying for a transaction, customer 104 can provide the amount that isdue to the merchant using cash or other payment instrument 112 (e.g., adebit card, a credit card, a stored-value gift card, a check, through anelectronic payment application on device 103 carried by the customer, orthe like). The merchant can interact with POS device 105 to process thetransactions, such as by inputting (e.g., manually, via a magnetic cardreader, NFC reader, or an RFID reader, etc.) identifiers associated withpayment instrument 112. For example, a payment instrument of thecustomer may include a card having one or more magnetic strips forproviding card and customer information when swiped in a card reader. Inother examples, other types of payment instruments may be used, such assmart cards having a built-in memory chip that is read by the devicewhen the card is inserted into the reader, such as chips that complywith the Europay, MasterCard, and/or Visa (EMV) standard (e.g., EMVcards). In other examples, other types of payment instruments includecards or computing devices that communicate via radiofrequencies such asradio frequency identification (RFID) tags, near field communication(NFC) devices, etc.

During the transaction, POS device 105 can determine transactioninformation describing the transaction, such as an identifier of thepayment instrument (e.g., payment card number, account credentials, orother payment device identifier), an amount of payment received from thecustomer, the item(s) acquired by the customer, a time, location (e.g.,street address, GPS coordinates, IP address, etc.) and date of thetransaction, a payment card network 140 associated with the paymentinstrument, an issuing bank of the payment instrument, a name or useraccount of the customer, contact information of the customer, type ofcurrency, IP address of POS device 105, IP address of customer device103, and so forth. POS device 105 can send the transaction informationto payment service 108 over network 110 (e.g., including the Internet),either substantially contemporaneously with the conducting of thetransaction (in the case of online transactions) or later when POSdevice 105 is in the online mode (in the case offline transactions).

In an offline transaction, POS device 105 may store information relatedto the transaction, including, but not limited to, a cost of thetransaction, a time of day at which the transaction occurred, a day ofthe week at which the transaction occurred, a location at which thetransaction took place, an item that the customer obtained, an identityand/or contact information of the customer, and a payment instrumentused in the transaction. After conducting an offline transaction withcustomer 104, POS device 105 may provide at least a subset of the storedinformation to the payment service 108 over the network 110. The network110 may represent or include any one or more wired or wireless networks,such as a Wi-Fi network, a cellular network, the Internet, or the like.In an online transaction, POS device 105 may send this information topayment service 108 over network 110 substantially contemporaneouslywith the transaction with the customer 104.

After merchant 102 receives the payment information from customer 104,merchant 102 may send respective authorization requests, along withinformation related to the respective transactions, to payment service108, as illustrated at 114. Payment service 108 may include paymentprocessing service 126 and data store 128 that stores merchant accounts130 and user accounts 132, as well as the transaction histories ofmerchants and users.

The payment processing service 126 may function to receive theinformation regarding a transaction from POS device 105 of merchant 102and attempt to authorize the payment instrument 112 used to conduct thetransaction. Payment processing service 126 may then send an indicationof whether the payment instrument has been approved or declined back toPOS device 105, as illustrated at 116.

Generally, when a customer 104 and a merchant 102 enter into anelectronic payment transaction, the transaction is processed byelectronically transferring funds from a financial account associatedwith the customer 104 to a financial account associated with themerchant 102. As such, the payment processing service 126 maycommunicate with one or more computing devices of a payment card network140 (e.g., MasterCard® or VISA®) over network(s) 110 to conductfinancial transactions electronically. Payment processing service 126can also communicate with one or more computing devices of one or morebanks, processing/acquiring services, or the like over the network 110.For example, payment processing service 126 may communicate with anacquiring bank, an issuing bank, and/or a bank maintaining user accountsfor electronic payments. Payment processing service 126 may alsocommunicate with, or access user and merchant accounts maintained bypayment service 108. In some examples, the payment processing service126 can communicate with one or more entities that perform or managesecurities transactions and/or cryptocurrency transactions.

An acquiring bank may be a registered member of a card association(e.g., Visa® or MasterCard®) and/or may be part of a payment cardnetwork 140. An issuing bank may issue credit cards to buyers (e.g.,customer 104) and may pay acquiring banks for purchases made bycardholders (e.g., customer 104) to which the issuing bank has issued apayment card. Accordingly, in some examples, the computing device(s) ofan acquiring bank may be included in the payment card network and maycommunicate with the computing devices of a card-issuing bank to obtainpayment. Further, in some examples, the customer 104 may use a debitcard instead of a credit card, in which case, the bank computingdevice(s) of a bank corresponding to the debit card may receivecommunications regarding a transaction in which the customer isparticipating. Additionally, there may be computing devices of otherfinancial institutions involved in some types of transactions or inalternative system architectures, and thus, the foregoing are merelyseveral examples for discussion purposes.

While FIG. 1 illustrates merchants 102 sending the transaction datadirectly to the payment service 108 as part of the request to authorizethe payment instrument 112, in some instances other entities (e.g.,banks associated with the merchant 102 or with customer paymentinstruments 112) may provide transaction data, such as part of abatched, periodic process.

According to one example, data store 128 may be used to store merchantaccounts 130 and user accounts 132, among other data. User accounts 132may store records of user accounts associated with each user of paymentservice 108. For example, user accounts 132 may include a first useraccount 134 and a second user account 136. Each of the accounts of useraccounts 132 may include information related to the respective balanceand transaction history associated with each user account. Each of theuser accounts 132 may include one or more balances associated with apayment service and further include access to external bank accounts.For example, first user account 134 includes transaction account 135 andinvestment account 138, and second user account 136 includes transactionaccount 137 and investment account 139. According to one example,transaction accounts 135 and 137 may include stored balances maintainedby payment service 108 on behalf of its users. Investment accounts 138and 139 may be used by users to save a stored balance towards aparticular goal or otherwise to allow payment service 108 to maintain aninvestment on behalf of its users. Each user account 134 and 136 of useraccounts 132 may also include a loan account representing funds that areloaned to the user by the payment service 108. Each user account 134 and136 of user accounts 132 may further include access to external paymentcard networks (e.g., payment card network 140) to facilitatetransactions with credit cards, debit cards, and the like.

Furthermore, transaction history for each user account may be storedusing an individual log for each user account. For example, first useraccount 134 includes transaction activity log 142 and second useraccount 136 includes transaction activity log 144. Transaction activitylogs 142 and 144 may be used to store transaction history for eachrespective user account, including debits and credits made to thebalances thereof. Similarly, transaction history for merchants may bestored in merchant accounts 130 using an individual log for eachmerchant.

According to one example, each of the user accounts 132 may includestored values of multiple currencies, such as fiat currency,cryptocurrency, equity value, or other monetary value represented bydigital assets. Each of the currencies may be stored directly in eachaccount of user accounts 132. Each of the user accounts 132 may furtherinclude access to external accounts that facilitate such currencies(e.g., third party cryptocurrency exchanges/wallets, equity holdingaccounts, etc.).

According to one example, merchant accounts 130 may store informationassociated with respective ones of the merchants 102. For instance, themerchant accounts 130 may indicate a class of items offered byrespective merchants (e.g., coffee items, collectibles, apparel, etc.),a type of business of the merchant (e.g., restaurant, coffee shop,retail store, etc.), a geographical location of the merchant, and thelike.

In some instances, a computing device associated with the merchant(e.g., POS device 105, servers of the merchant, etc.) determines whenthe customer visits physical premises or a digital presence of themerchant. For instance, the device 103 of the customer 104 may includean application (e.g., an application provided by payment service 108)that communicates with POS device 105 of merchant 102 via near-fieldcommunication protocols (e.g., NFC, Bluetooth, etc.). Therefore, whenthe customer visits the physical premises of merchant 102, for example,POS device 105 may detect the presence of customer device 103. The POSdevice 105 may accordingly determine that the customer 104 is present.In another example, one or both of POS device 105 and customer device103 may share its location (e.g., GPS coordinates) to a common servicefor determining when customer device 103 and POS device 105 are locatedwithin a proximity threshold of one another, and for mediating atransaction between customer device 103 and POS device 105.

In another example, customer 104 may utilize customer device 103 tocheck in at the merchant location, and POS device 105 may receive anindication of this check in. When the customer visits a digital presenceof merchant 102 (e.g., mobile app, website, etc.), customer 104 may login or otherwise provide information (e.g., a cookie on the device 103)from which the merchant 102 determines that the customer 104 is at themerchant location. Of course, while a few examples are listed, it is tobe appreciated that the merchant 102 and/or payment service 108 maydetermine when the customer 104 is present at the merchant location inany other number of ways. In each instance, after payment service 108receives an indication that customer 104 is co-located with merchant102, the payment service 108 may determine whether to send one or morepreviously expressed item preferences of the customer 104 to themerchant 102.

In addition, customer 104 may desire to receive an instance of apayments application, such as a mobile wallet application, from thepayment service 108. FIG. 1 illustrates that the customer 104 may sendpayment-application requests 118 to payment service 108. In response,payment service 108 may provide instances of the application 120 back tocustomer device 103. In addition, payment service 108 may map anidentification of the instance of the application 120 to the useraccounts 132.

FIG. 2 illustrates a mobile device and payment application 200 inaccordance with one example embodiment. Mobile device 202 and POS device206 may be computing devices with wireless communication modules 203 and207, respectively, with wireless communication capabilities (e.g., NFC,Bluetooth, cellular data, etc.), allowing wireless communicationtherebetween. A payment application 204 is a payment applicationprovided by the payment service 210 and executes on a user's mobiledevice 202. POS device 206 can include a Point of Sale (POS) application208 that is associated with one or more merchant systems and can be usedby the customer to purchase products or services. The paymentapplication 204 and POS application 208 can also be a website providedby payment service 210 (e.g., payment service 108), or any sourcewebsite or application that provides a portal to send and acceptpayments for transactions using payment service 210. Applications 204and 208 may be accessible through a web browser (e.g., Chrome® orSafari®) on the mobile device 202, according to one example. In anotherexample, applications 204 and 208 can be software applicationsdownloadable via an application store (e.g., Google Play Store®, AppleApp Store®, etc.). Once accessed or registered into the applications 204and 208, the web browser or application may remember the credentials(e.g., identification data 205) for subsequent visits (for example,through web browser authentication, web cookies, web history, etc.),allowing access to the applications without logging-in to an accountagain. The description herein is with reference to the paymentapplication 204 and POS application 208 as installed applications;however, it will be understood that these applications as authenticatedor unauthenticated applications on a web browser is within the meaningof the term. In various examples, the mobile device 202, the POS device206, and/or the payment service 210 can be the same as or can includethe customer device 103, the POS device 105, and/or the payment service108, respectively.

Payment application 204 can include an electronic wallet application,money transfer application (e.g., application for sending and receivingmoney via email or phone), or any other application having storedtherein identification data 205 linked to user accounts of paymentservice 210 or other data linked to one or more payment cards and/orbank accounts, both of which may be used by the owner of the mobiledevice to initiate transactions. Such transactions can includetraditional purchase transactions between customers and merchants orservice providers, person-to-person transactions, and the like.

Payment application 204 can also be used to manage internal paymentcards (i.e., virtual payment cards issued by payment service 108 tousers having a user account 132). As such, options with respect tointernal payment cards can be adjusted and managed using paymentapplication 204. For example, when a user account of user accounts 132includes multiple payment methods (e.g., credit card, bank account, loanaccount, etc.), payment application 204 can set one of those paymentmethods to be the default method for debits or credits when using aninternal payment card. In one example, the color of the virtual card asdisplayed with the mobile application may change dynamically to matchthe current color of the physical thermo-sensitive payment card. Forexample, the mobile payment application 204 may communicate with aphysical payment card 212 using Bluetooth, NFC, or other wirelesscommunication protocol via onboard electronics embedded within astructure of the payment card 212.

Collectively, all tools for offering payment are herein referred to aspayment instruments. For example, payment instruments can refer tomobile device 202 running payment application 204, internal paymentcards, external payment cards, NFC-enabled payment cards, etc. The useof the term payment instrument does not imply a mechanism of use. Forexample, mobile device 202 may be utilized via NFC protocols (e.g., NFCData Exchange Format (NDEF), NFC tags, etc.), or via use of software onmobile device 202 to send messages through web forms, applications,APIs, or messaging applications. As an additional example, paymentcards, whether internal (e.g., virtual cards) or external (e.g.,physical cards), can be presented to a merchant to be read, or a cardnumber can be entered into a terminal under the control of the merchantor under the control of the customer. A payment instrument can includemultiple payment instruments, such as when utilizing mobile device 202to enter a payment card number. Throughout this description, specificpayment instruments may be discussed, however, the specific paymentinstruments should not be considered limiting, and persons of ordinaryskill in the art will appreciate instances in which a payment instrumentsuch as a payment card can be substituted for another payment instrumentsuch as a mobile device, and vice versa.

Thermochromic Payment Card

The customer 104 (or user 104) makes payment to a merchant 102 through apayment instrument 112 when conducting a transaction for acquiringitem(s) 106 (e.g., goods or service) from the merchant 102, asillustrated in FIG. 1 . The payment instrument can be a payment card 112such as a credit card, a debit card, a gift card, or the like. Incertain examples, the payment card 112 can be a thermochromic paymentcard that includes a thermochromic ink in one or more regions of thepayment card. The thermochromic ink can be or include an ink, coating,material, and/or pigment that changes color when temperatures increaseor decrease. For example, when heat is applied to a region of thepayment card 112 having the thermochromic ink (e.g., by the user 104touching or pressing finger(s) on the region and transferring body heatto the card 112), the color of the thermochromic ink and the regionhaving the thermochromic ink can change. If the region stores anyinformation (e.g., through a printed pattern of the thermochromic ink),the color change of the thermochromic ink can affect the visibility ofthe stored information. Thus, by controlling and/or adjusting atemperature of the thermochromic ink on the payment card 112, thereexists a feasible and efficient way to control and secure the display ofthe information stored in the payment card 112, such as an accountnumber of the payment card 112. An example payment card 112 andassociated packaging materials and methods are depicted in FIGS. 6-9Cand described below.

FIG. 3A is a graphic representation of a top or bottom surface of apayment card 112 at room temperature, in accordance with certainexamples. The payment card 112 includes at least a first region 302 anda second region 304. The first region 302 can include or correspond toan account number associated with an account of a user. The account ofthe user can be maintained by a payment service system (e.g., paymentservice system 108) that issues the payment card 112. The second region304 can include or correspond to certain background portions of thepayment card 112, such as regions around or adjacent to characters ofthe account number. In some examples, the second region 304 can surroundthe first region 302 and/or be immediately adjacent to one another. Inother examples, the first region 302 and the second region 304 can beseparated and/or not adjacent to one another.

In certain examples, the first region 302 and the second region 304 ofthe payment card 112 are designed to be substantially identical in colorat room temperature. Since different thermochromic inks can havedifferent colors at different temperatures, a type of thermochromic inkis chosen to ensure the first region 302 and the second region 304 aresubstantially identical color at room temperature. The purpose of suchdesign is to provide a security feature for hiding certain informationof the payment card 112 when the payment card 112 is left exposed anduntouched at an ambient or room temperature, thereby avoidingunnecessary or inadvertent information exposure. For example, in FIG.3A, the first region 302 and the second region 304 are of similar color(e.g., at room temperature) such that the account number in the firstregion 302 is hidden in the background and/or not visible. When thetemperature of the first region 302 or the second region 304 changes,the colors of the two regions can become differentiated so as to revealthe account number in the first region 302. In other words, the accountnumber can be obfuscated unless, for example, a user touches the card112 or heat is otherwise applied to the card 112. The body heat of theuser's finger(s) can cause the color of the first region 302 or thesecond region 304 to change so that the account number stands out or isperceptible.

FIGS. 3B-3D are graphic representations of the payment card 112 uponapplication of heat, in accordance with certain examples. In someexamples, the first region 302 includes the thermochromic ink and thesecond region 304 does not include the thermochromic ink. Alternativelyor additionally, the thermochromic ink can be included in the secondregion 304 but not in the first region 302, or both regions 302 and 304can include a thermochromic ink (e.g., a different thermochromic ink ineach region). In some examples, the first region 302 is a regioncontaining private or sensitive information of the payment card 112. Inaddition to or instead of including the account number of the paymentcard 112, the first region 302 can include a subregion 308 of expirationdate information, a subregion 310 of card verification value (CVV)information, and/or other subregion(s) of other account data (notshown). When a user 104 touches the payment card 112, body heat from theuser can change the temperature of a thermochromic ink in the card 112,which can cause the color of the thermochromic ink to change.

FIG. 3B illustrates an example in which the account number in the firstregion 302 includes a thermochromic ink and other regions of the card112, including the second region 304 and a background region 306, do notinclude a thermochromic ink. Compared to FIG. 3A, the application ofheat has caused the color of the account number in the first region 302to change and become visible relative to colors in the second region 304and the background region 306, which do not include a thermochromic inkand have not changed color. In the example of FIG. 3B, the expirationdate in the subregion 308 of the first region 302 and the CVV in thesubregion 310 of the first region 302 may not include the thermochromicink and/or heat may not have been applied to these subregions, such thatthe color of the expiration date and the CVV has not changed to revealthe expiration date and CVV information. While FIG. 3B indicates thatthe color of the first region 302 can become lighter upon application ofheat, it is understood that the thermochromic inks described herein canbecome darker and/or change hue upon application of heat, in variousexamples.

FIG. 3C illustrates an example in which the account number, theexpiration date and the CVV in the first region 302 include athermochromic ink and other regions of the card 112, including thesecond region 304 and the background region 306, do not include athermochromic ink. Compared to FIG. 3B, responsive to the application ofheat, not only has the account number become visible, but the expirationdate in the subregion 308 and the CVV in the subregion 310 have alsobecome visible.

FIG. 3D illustrates an example in which the second region 304 includes athermochromic ink and the first region 302 and the background region 306do not include a thermochromic ink. Compared to FIG. 3A, the applicationof heat has caused the color of the second region 304 to change relativeto colors in the first region 302 and the background region 306, whichdo not include a thermochromic ink and have not changed color. Becausethe second region 304 immediately surrounds the first region 302 in thisexample, the color change in the second region 304 renders the accountnumber in the first region 302 visible.

FIG. 3E illustrates an example in which the first region 302 and thesecond region 304 each includes a different thermochromic ink and thebackground region 306 does not include a thermochromic ink. Compared toFIG. 3A, the application of heat has caused the color of the firstregion 302 to become lighter and the color of the second region 304 tobecome darker, such that the account number in the first region 302 isvisible. The color in the background section 306 has not changed in thisexample.

A secure information exposure mechanism is therefore established basedon a security feature of using a type of thermochromic ink that allowsan account number or other information on a payment card to be (i)invisible when the card is not in use or is at or near room temperatureand (ii) visible when the card is in use, held by a user, or at atemperature above or below room temperature, as illustrated in FIGS.3A-3D. While a physical touch of the payment card can be used to heatthe card, in other examples, signals can be generated (as describedbelow with reference to FIG. 4 ) to change the temperature of thethermochromic ink embedded in or on the payment card, and further tochange a color of the card and render the card number or otherinformation visible based on the color change.

Payment Card Components

FIG. 4 illustrates a payment card 112, in accordance with certainexamples. The payment card 112 can be made of multiple layers or plasticor other materials laminated together. In certain examples, the paymentcard 112 includes at least a card substrate 402 and a personalizationlayer 404. The card substrate 402 may include important card informationused in conducting financial transactions and/or security features usedfor preventing unauthorized or fraudulent card uses. For example, thecard substrate 402 may include a magnetic stripe that is encoded withbinary information for identifying the card as an authentic cardassociated with an account of a user. In the depicted example, the cardsubstrate 402 includes a heating element 410, a near field communication(NFC) chip 412, a temperature sensor 416, and a battery 418. Thepersonalization layer 404 may include card information customized forthe account of the user (e.g., an account number and/or the user's name)and additional security features. For example, the personalization layer404 can include a first region 302, a second region 304, and a biometricelement 414. The first region 302 can include the account number orother information associated with the account of the user. The accountnumber or other information can be printed or coated on thepersonalization layer 404 and/or on an outer surface or inner layer ofthe card 112. The second region 304 can include one or more backgroundportions of the payment card 112, such as regions surrounding oradjacent to the first region 302. The first region 302 and/or the secondregion 304 can include a thermochromic ink, as described herein. In someexamples, the account number of the payment card 112 is obfuscated at ornear room temperature and is revealed when a user touches the paymentcard 112 or when the temperature of the card is otherwise changed (e.g.,in response to temperature-changing signals). The heating element 410,the NFC chip 412, the biometric element 414, the temperature sensor 416,and the battery 418 are depicted in dash-lined boxes to indicate thatthese components can be optional or can reside in other layers of thepayment card 112. For example, additionally or alternatively, theheating element 410 can be embedded in the personalization layer 404and/or the biometric element can be embedded in the card substrate 402,while the temperature sensor 416 can be optional.

The heating element 410 is configured to change a temperature of thepayment card 112. In certain examples, the heating element 410 iscoupled to the NFC chip 412 embedded in the payment card 112. Theheating element 410 receives a signal from the NFC chip 412 to changethe temperature of the payment card 112. The NFC chip 412 communicateswith a mobile application executing on a device of the user, e.g., amobile device 103. Based on an interaction of the user with the mobileapplication, the NFC chip 412 is configured to receive a signal from themobile application and transmit a signal to the heating element 410 tocause the heating element 410 to change the temperature of the paymentcard 112. For example, a user can set up an alert using the mobileapplication executing on his/her mobile phone. When an alert eventhappens, e.g., a credit limit of the payment card 112 is reached or atransaction using the payment card 112 fails, the mobile application cangenerate a signal and transmit the signal to the heating element 410through the NFC chip 412. Responsive to receiving the signal, theheating element 410 can heat up one or more regions of the payment card112 having the thermochromic ink to change the color of the one or moreregions. The changed color of the payment card 112 provides a visuallydistinctive alert that calls the user's attention.

Typically, the heating element 410 and the battery 418 work together tochange a color of the payment card 112. The heating element 410 alongwith the battery 418, in certain examples, can be configured to performlocalized heating to a specific region of the payment card 112 having athermochromic ink to reveal a message or a card/account number.Therefore, even if another region of the payment card 112 also has thethermochromic ink, only the specific region where the temperature wasincreased by the heating element 410 may change color. In some examples,the heating element 410 can be configured to receive a signal specifyingthe color and/or temperature from the mobile application via the NFCchip 412, and to change the temperature and color of the payment card112 according to different signals. For example, if a credit limit isreached, the heating element 410 can receive a first signal specifying afirst temperature and change the color of a region of the payment card112 to red based on the first signal. In another example, if atransaction fails due to insufficient funds, the heating element 410 canreceive a second signal specifying a second temperature and change thecolor of a region of the payment card 112 (e.g., the same region) topurple based on the second signal. The card temperature can be chosensuch that a resulting color reflects or matches an event of a specifictype and/or is associated with a specific merchant. For example, when adetermination is made (e.g., by the mobile application) that the paymentcard is in, near, or being used to make a purchase with a particularmerchant, the temperature can be adjusted to achieve a color thatmatches a color used by the merchant (e.g., as part of trademark ortrade dress used by the merchant). In various examples, the colorsachievable by a thermochromic ink used in the card can be mapped tospecific temperatures (e.g., using a lookup table or mathematicalfunction). Such a mapping can be developed by measuring colors for avariety of colors. Additionally or alternatively, the heating elementcan perform localized heating of the card to achieve localizedtemperature changes that present messages to the user. Such messages caninclude, for example, one or more letters or numbers, a trademark orlogo (e.g., for a merchant), and/or information related to an accountbalance or a recent transaction.

Advantageously, the heating element 410 combined with the NFC chip 412and the mobile application allows the temperature and color of a paymentcard to be changed without requiring a user to touch the payment card.This automatic color change of the payment card can be used to provide auser with messages, notify a user of issues related to the payment card(e.g., credit or security issues), and/or remind the user to take timelyactions. Such notifications can be particularly advantageous in reducingcomputer and network resource usage and improving user experience.

In certain examples, the payment card 112 includes the temperaturesensor 416, which can be part of the heating element 410 or separatefrom the heating element 410. The temperature sensor 416 can beconfigured to obtain a temperature reading of the payment card 112 andtransmit the reading via the NFC chip 412 to another component and/ordevice for processing. For example, the temperature sensor 416 cangenerate a temperature reading during a transaction involving thepayment card 112 and pass the reading to the NFC chip 412 fortransmitting to a mobile application executing on the device of theuser. In certain examples, responsive to receiving the temperaturereading, at least one of the device of the user (e.g., mobile device103) or the payment service system 108 communicating with the mobiledevice 103 can use the temperature reading to confirm a physicallocation of the payment card 112 during the transaction, and thencontinue, stop, or report the transaction based on the confirmedphysical location. Suppose, for example, that the payment card 112 isbeing used to make a transaction at a farmer's market or other outdoorlocation on the northeastern coast of the United States during winter.If the temperature reading of the payment card 112 is higher than anexpected or actual outdoor temperature at the location, the temperaturereading can indicate that the card is not physically present at thelocation, and this can indicate that the pending transaction isfraudulent. Thus, the mobile application or the payment service system108 can stop the transaction, report the transaction, and/or recommendthat action be taken (e.g., by the merchant) to confirm that thetransaction is not fraudulent. On the other hand, a low temperaturereading can indicate that the payment card 112 is being exposed to atemperature that is consistent with the location of the pendingtransaction. In such instances, the mobile device 103 or the paymentservice system 108 can permit the transaction to proceed.

In some examples, a camera, rather than the temperature sensor 416included in the payment card 112, can be used to obtain a temperaturereading of the payment card 112. A user can use the camera associatedwith the device of the user (e.g., a mobile phone camera) to take apicture of the payment card 112 involved in a transaction andcommunicate the picture to a mobile application of the device of theuser. The mobile application can then detect the temperature of thepayment card 112 based on the color of the card (e.g., black indicatesthe temperature is 50-60° F., or red indicates the temperature is 70-80°F.). Such information can be used to determine whether the payment cardis being used in an expected location for a pending transaction. Basedon the determined temperature or physical location of the payment card112, the mobile application or the payment service system 108 candetermine whether to continue, stop, or report the transaction.Therefore, the location information determined based on the temperatureor color of the payment card 112 can be used to safeguard transactionsand improve security associated with use of the card.

In some examples, the payment card 112 can include a biometric element414 to further secure the use of the payment card. The biometric element414 can be configured to obtain biometric information from the user andtransmit the information to the mobile application executing on thedevice of the user via the NFC chip 412. The mobile application can senda signal to the heating element 410 to adjust the temperature of thepayment card 112 based on the biometric information. In some examples,when a user puts his or her fingers on the payment card 112, thebiometric element 414 can obtain the fingerprint of the user (e.g.,through a fingerprint reader included in the biometric element) andtransmit the obtained fingerprint to the mobile application. The mobileapplication can compare the obtained fingerprint with the fingerprint ofan assigned user, and further communicate with the heating element 410through the NFC chip 412 to adjust a temperature of the payment card 112based on the comparison result. For example, the heating element 410 canbe configured to adjust a temperature of the first region 302 or thesecond region 304 to reveal or conceal the account number in response tothe communication received by the NFC chip from the mobile application.By applying heat with the heating element 410, for example, the accountnumber can be revealed based on a fingerprint match (e.g., when the usertouching the payment card is the assigned user). Likewise, the accountnumber can remain concealed when there is a fingerprint mismatch (e.g.,when the user touching the payment card is not the assigned user), bynot applying heat with the heating element 410. Thus, the account numbercan be kept hidden when unauthorized users touch the card, therebyimproving security. As described, the thermochromic ink may producecertain colors at certain temperatures (e.g., red at 70 degrees, whiteat 80 degrees, etc). The heating element, in communication with thepayment application executing on the device of the user, may becontrolled via the mobile application to cause the card to heat to adesired temperature in order to produce a particular color based on atransaction or other event caused by the user. For example, the user mayactivate an incentive associated with a merchant via the mobile app anda virtual card displayed with the user interface, and consequently causean animation (e.g., virtual card turns to a color associated with theincentive or the merchant) to appear both on the user interface of themobile application and also cause a corresponding color to appear on thephysical card through temperature control via the heating element andthe thermochromic ink.

Additionally or alternatively, in certain examples, the payment card 112can include a graphical display, such as an electronic ink (E-Ink)display or an LCD display. The graphical display can be used to presentinformation related to the payment card 112, a user of the payment card112 (e.g., an image of the user), a transaction made with the paymentcard 112 (e.g., a payment amount), or a merchant associated with atransaction made with the payment card 112 (e.g., a name of themerchant). For example, in some instances, the graphical display candisplay an account number, an expiration date, and/or a CVV.Additionally or alternatively, the graphical display can be used todisplay a bar code or a QR code (Quick Response code). For example, theuser may receive a gift card that includes a QR code or a bar code thatcan be presented to a merchant for payment. The graphical display can beused to display the QR code or bar code, which can then be presented toan optical scanner of the merchant for payment. Thus, the graphicaldisplay can be used to communicate e-gift card identifier information.Similarly, the graphical display can be used to communicate sports eventticket information, airline ticket information, or concert ticketinformation.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method 500 of using a payment card, inaccordance with certain examples. A payment card (e.g., payment card112) is provided (step 502). The payment card includes an account numberassociated with an account of a user and has a thermochromic ink. Insome examples, the payment card includes a card substrate and apersonalization layer overlaying the card substrate. The personalizationlayer includes a first region and a second region. The first regionincludes the account number associated with the account of the user. Theaccount of the user is maintained by a payment service system (e.g., thepayment service system 108) that issues the payment card. At least oneof the first region or the second region includes the thermochromic ink.The thermochromic ink is an ink that changes color when temperatureincreases or decreases. For example, when the user touches the card,body heat from the user can cause a color of the payment card.Additionally or alternatively, when the payment card is exposed to a newambient temperature, the temperature and color of the payment card canchange. In some examples, a temperature sensor in the card can be usedto determine when the user has touched the card or when heat hasotherwise been applied to (or removed from) the payment card, asdescribed herein.

In certain implementations, the payment card includes a heating element(e.g., heating element 410) and an NFC chip (e.g., the NFC chip 412)that communicates with a mobile application executing on a device of theuser. The mobile application can determine (step 504) that a color ofthe payment card should be changed (e.g., to reveal the account numberor send a message to the user). In response, the user device can send(step 506) a signal to the NFC chip on the payment card. The NFC chipcan then activate (step 508) the heating element to change a temperatureand color of the payment card. The heating element can dynamicallyadjust a temperature of the payment card.

Application of heat to the payment card can cause a color change thatreveals the account number of the payment card. Otherwise, the accountnumber of the payment card may remain hidden from view, for example, ifthe payment card is at or around room temperature. In some examples,when heat is applied to the first region or the second region of thepayment card having the thermochromic ink (e.g., when the user touchesthe first or second region), the color of the first or second regionhaving the thermochromic ink can change. As a result, the account numbercan be revealed. In some examples, the first region and the secondregion are substantially identical in color at room temperature suchthat the account number included in the first region is invisible atroom temperature. Advantageously, revealing the account number uponapplication of heat can prevent unnecessary or inadvertent exposure ofthe account number or other information on the card, thereby increasingsecurity of the payment card and user account.

Chameleon Card

In some implementations, the payment card 112 can be or include a metalsubstrate and/or can have randomized colors or a random color variationacross the surface. Such a card can be referred to herein as a“chameleon card.” FIG. 6 includes perspective views of front and backsides of a chameleon card 600. The front side of the chameleon card 600includes at least three regions 602, 604, and 606. Each region 602, 604,and 606 can have a unique or different color based on differentthermochromic inks used in each region. The different colors can bepresent when a temperature of the card 600 is uniform (e.g., throughoutthe card) or non-uniform. The thermochromic inks can be selected andpositioned to hide key information of the card 600 while displayingrandom colors. For example, as depicted, the account number associatedwith the card can be invisible in the regions 602, 604, or 606. When auser touches the card 600 to apply body heat or a heating elementembedded in the card applies heat to the card 600 in response toreceiving a signal, the color of one or more regions 602, 604, or 606can change to reveal the account number. Likewise, the back side of thechameleon card 600 can include regions 608, 610, and 612 that displaydifferent colors. For example, the regions 608 and 612 on the back sidemay be opposite of the region 602 on the front side and/or may showdifferent colors (e.g., a darker color) based on a selection andarrangement of the thermochromic inks on the card 600. Additionally oralternatively, the colors on the front side and/or the back side of thecard 600 can be arranged to present customized shapes or images. Forexample, the card 600 can be designed and colored based on personalizedartwork from a cardholder. In general, the chameleon card 600 can bevisually appealing to attract users and improve an overall userexperience.

Furthermore, the payment card 600 may be manufactured in a way such thatvarious semi-reflective or other ink colors are randomly printed acrossthe upper and/or lower surfaces of the card substrate or other layer ofthe card. In this way, the payment card appears in a chameleon style andmay appear to change colors to the user as the card is rotated. Thisstyle of card may include thermochromic ink or other ink or dyes (e.g.,normal or non-thermochromic) so long as various colors are printedrandomly along the surface. In one embodiment, changes in color to thechameleon card may be triggered by a detected change in environmentaltemperature using the temperature sensor, thermochromic ink, and/orheating element as described above. The various colors or colorcombinations used to print the card may be selected by the user viainput on a user interface associated with the mobile application. Forexample, the user may select a base color of red for their chameleoncard and the resulting card can have random colors of red hues printedon the card. In one embodiment, the payment service may utilize machinelearning algorithms to select or suggest complementary colors to atleast one desired color selected by a user, and based on users havingsimilar profiles to the selecting user, for printing the various colorson the payment card.

In some examples, the randomized coloring can be achieved by varyingconcentrations of thermochromic pigments across the front and/or backsides of the card 600. For example, the front and/or back sides caninclude a mixture of two or more different thermochromic pigments, andthe concentrations of the pigments can be varied to achieve a range ofcolors on the front and/or back sides. Each of the regions 602, 604, and606, for example, can have a unique combination of the thermochromicpigments. In general, the composition of thermochromic pigments can varyacross the card to achieve randomized colors and/or present images atany given temperature.

Chameleon Card Packaging

FIG. 7 depicts a chameleon card 700 placed in a packaging container 702,in accordance with certain examples. Current card packaging designsusually have notches to hold a payment card; however, the “notched” cardholder design can sometimes damage the card during transit. Bycomparison, the packaging container 702 utilizes a holding tray 704 thathas ridges 706 for achieving a friction fit with an outer perimeter ofthe card 700. The holding tray 704 may be made of paper and/or foam andis configured to secure the card in position, while providing cushion toprotect the card during transit.

FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate a process 800 for packaging the chameleoncard 700 (or other payment card) in the packaging container 702. Theholding tray 704 is glued (step 802) in a box 804 with a top of the tray704 facing a hinged lid 806 of the box 804. A quick response (QR) labelis applied (step 808) to an inner side of the lid 806, which includes aprotrusion 809. The protrusion 809 can be used in conjunction with theridges 706 of the holding tray 704 to support the chameleon card 700and/or to provide a friction fit that holds the chameleon card 700 inplace. The chameleon card 700 can be pressed (step 810) into the holdingtray 704. The box 804 is then closed (step 812) and placed (step 814)into an envelope or mailer 816, which can be shipped to the card holder.

FIGS. 9A and 9B include a variety of views of packaging components thatcan be used to ship a payment card, such as the chameleon card. FIG. 9Aincludes top, bottom, front, section, and side views of the holding tray704. For example, the ridges 706 can be seen in the front view and thesection view of the holding tray 704. The box 702, inner mailer 814, andouter mailer 816 can be made of recyclable paper and/or include a paddedlining. FIG. 9B includes an image of a cutout 902 for forming a box(e.g., the box 804), which can be made of uncoated kraft folding board.

Computer Implementation

For clarity of explanation, in some instances the present technology maybe presented as including individual functional blocks includingfunctional blocks comprising devices, device components, steps orroutines in a method embodied in software, or combinations of hardwareand software.

Any of the steps, operations, functions, or processes described hereinmay be performed or implemented by a combination of hardware andsoftware services or services, alone or in combination with otherdevices. In some examples, a service can be software that resides inmemory of a client device and/or one or more servers of a contentmanagement system and perform one or more functions when a processorexecutes the software associated with the service. In some examples, aservice is a program, or a collection of programs that carry out aspecific function. In some examples, a service can be considered aserver. The memory can be a non-transitory or transitorycomputer-readable medium.

In some examples the computer-readable storage devices, mediums, andmemories can include a cable or wireless signal containing a bit streamand the like. However, when mentioned, transitory computer-readablestorage media are media such as energy, carrier signals, electromagneticwaves, and signals per se.

Methods according to the above-described examples can be implementedusing computer-executable instructions that are stored or otherwiseavailable from computer readable media. Such instructions can comprise,for example, instructions and data which cause or otherwise configure ageneral purpose computer, special purpose computer, or special purposeprocessing device to perform a certain function or group of functions.Portions of computer resources used can be accessible over a network.The computer executable instructions may be, for example, binaries,intermediate format instructions such as assembly language, firmware, orsource code. Examples of computer-readable media that may be used tostore instructions, information used, and/or information created duringmethods according to described examples include magnetic or opticaldisks, solid state memory devices, flash memory, USB devices providedwith non-volatile memory, networked storage devices, and so on.

Devices implementing methods according to these disclosures can comprisehardware, firmware and/or software, and can take any of a variety ofform factors. Typical examples of such form factors include servers,laptops, smart phones, small form factor personal computers, personaldigital assistants, and so on. Functionality described herein also canbe embodied in peripherals or add-in cards. Such functionality can alsobe implemented on a circuit board among different chips or differentprocesses executing in a single device, by way of further example.

The instructions, media for conveying such instructions, computingresources for executing them, and other structures for supporting suchcomputing resources are means for providing the functions described inthese disclosures.

Although a variety of examples and other information was used to explainaspects within the scope of the appended claims, no limitation of theclaims should be implied based on particular features or arrangements insuch examples, as one of ordinary skill would be able to use theseexamples to derive a wide variety of implementations. Although somesubject matter may have been described in language specific to examplesof structural features and/or method steps, it is to be understood thatthe subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarilylimited to these described features or acts. For example, suchfunctionality can be distributed differently or performed in componentsother than those identified herein. Rather, the described features andsteps are disclosed as examples of components of systems and methodswithin the scope of the appended claims.

Having now fully set forth examples and certain modifications of theconcept underlying the present invention, various other examples as wellas certain variations and modifications of the examples shown anddescribed herein will obviously occur to those skilled in the art uponbecoming familiar with said underlying concept.

1.-20. (canceled)
 21. A payment card comprising: a near fieldcommunication (NFC) chip embedded in a card substrate; and the cardsubstrate, wherein a surface of the card substrate comprises a pluralityof thermochromic inks that vary in regions of the surface to achievecolor variation on the surface, and wherein different colors presentresponsive to changes in temperature of the payment card.
 22. Thepayment card of claim 21, further comprising a heating element coupledto the NFC chip, wherein the heating element causes a change in thetemperature of the payment card to cause presentation of the differentcolors.
 23. The payment card of claim 21, wherein a change in thetemperature of the payment card to cause presentation of the differentcolors is caused by physical touch.
 24. The payment card of claim 21,wherein each of the plurality of thermochromic inks correspond to one ormore colors of a plurality of randomized colors.
 25. The payment card ofclaim 21, wherein each respective region of the surface comprises one ormore thermochromic inks of the plurality of thermochromic inks that varyrespectively within the respective region to achieve a range of colorswithin the respective region.
 26. The payment card of claim 21, whereinthe color variation comprises a random color variation.
 27. The paymentcard of claim 21, wherein the color variation is associated with acustomized shape or image.
 28. The payment card of claim 21, wherein atleast one of the plurality of thermochromic inks comprises (i) aconcentration of a thermochromic pigment that varies respectively withinindividual of the regions to achieve a range of colors within arespective region or (ii) a mixture of two or more thermochromicpigments.
 29. The payment card of claim 21, further comprising: aheating element, and a biometric element coupled to the heating elementand the NFC chip, wherein the biometric element is configured to: obtainbiometric information; and transmit, via the NFC chip, the biometricinformation to a mobile application executing on a device of a userassociated with the payment card, and wherein, in response to acommunication received by the NFC chip from the mobile application, theheating element is configured to cause a change in the temperature ofthe payment card to cause presentation of the different colors.
 30. Thepayment card of claim 21, wherein the surface is a first surface andwherein a second surface of the card substrate comprises anotherplurality of thermochromic inks that vary in regions of the secondsurface to achieve color variation on the second surface.
 31. A methodcomprising: facilitating generation of a payment card comprising: ahardware chip embedded in a card substrate; and the card substrate,wherein a surface of the card substrate comprises a plurality ofthermochromic inks that vary in regions of the surface to achieve colorvariation on the surface, and wherein different colors presentresponsive to changes in temperature of the payment card.
 32. The methodof claim 31, the payment card further comprising a heating elementcoupled to the hardware chip, wherein the heating element causes achange in the temperature of the payment card to cause presentation ofthe different colors.
 33. The method of claim 31, wherein a change inthe temperature of the payment card to cause presentation of thedifferent colors is caused by physical touch.
 34. The method of claim31, wherein each respective region of the surface comprises one or morethermochromic inks of the plurality of thermochromic inks that varyrespectively within the respective region to achieve a range of colorswithin the respective region.
 35. The method of claim 31, wherein thecolor variation comprises a random color variation.
 36. The method ofclaim 31, wherein the color variation is associated with a customizedshape or image.
 37. The method of claim 31, wherein at least one of theplurality of thermochromic inks comprises (i) a concentration of athermochromic pigment that varies respectively within individual of theregions to achieve a range of colors within a respective region or (ii)a mixture of two or more thermochromic pigments.
 38. The method of claim31, wherein the payment card further comprises a heating element, and abiometric element coupled to the heating element and the hardware chip,wherein the biometric element is configured to: obtain biometricinformation; and transmit, via the hardware chip, the biometricinformation to a mobile application executing on a device of a userassociated with the payment card, and wherein, in response to acommunication received by the hardware chip from the mobile application,the heating element is configured to cause a change in the temperatureof the payment card to cause presentation of the different colors.
 39. Asystem comprising: a payment card, the payment card comprising: ahardware chip embedded in a card substrate; and the card substrate,wherein a surface of the card substrate comprises a plurality ofthermochromic inks that vary in regions of the surface to achieve colorvariation on the surface, and wherein different colors presentresponsive to changes in temperature of the payment card.
 40. The systemof claim 39, the payment card further comprising a heating elementcoupled to the hardware chip, wherein the heating element causes achange in the temperature of the payment card to cause presentation ofthe different colors.